Soda Popinski’s, a New Bar From the Bullitt/Tonic Team, Opens Tonight on Nob Hill

The Bullitt/Tonic/Lightning/ Mayhem team of Duncan Ley and Benjamin Bleiman has added to their bar empire once more, and the aforementioned Soda Popinski’s opens tonight in the former Gold Star Bar (1548 California at Polk). The name and the theme come from a character from Nintendo’s Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!, a bald Russian boxer whom you can see amusingly portrayed in this video by Thrillist’s Kevin Alexander. Tonight, Soda Popinski will be serving up free shots of Fireball, a Canadian cinnamon liqueur which is one of the three spirits the bar will have on tap, along with the traditional Fernet, and Bulleit. The drink list includes a few vaguely Russian-themed things, like a Moscow Mule, and a drink named for the boxer character’s original name (later edited because it offended some Russians?), Vodka Drunkenski.

And yes, there is a working Nintendo setup in the back, which you can play for free.